Shuffle!: A New Life
by mike11208
Summary: This follows after the ending to the anime. What if I was to meet Kaede Fuyou and start to grow feelings for her? Inspired by ThomasZoey3000 and mr.kokomo. Rated T for language. Currently on hiatus until further notice.
1. Meeting In Person

**Hey, all you story lovers! The name's Mike, as you can tell, and I'm gonna be starting my own Shuffle! fanfic! Honestly, I kinda got my ideas from a lot of people, like my awesome bro ThomasZiey3000, my other bro , and a new person whose story crept me out a first, but is now another one of my favorties. His name is KingKong777. And he better update, if he knows what's good for him. (;**

**And also, I'm on writer's block at the moment for Happy Days and Different Days, so those are on hold for now. And as for my other bro total dramas, I will read your story when I get the time. And besides, be grateful I'm putting you in Happy Days, foo'!**

**And I'm not using plagiarism, but I am gonna adapt Matthew's and Cam's ways of talking with Kaede, but with my own website that I usually go on.**

**Well, shall we begin? Thought so.**

Chapter 1: Meeting in Person

My name: Michael Quinones. Age: about 15. Weight: about 210 to 220. That's all you might need to know about me. But just to let you know a little more, I'm a charismatic, honest, and loyal person. I'd never betray you, and I'm kinda a shy and smooth guy. Weird mix, huh? I guess you could say that I'm not one of those kids that never shut up or just want attention. I'm just me, nothing more, nothing less. And I also live in New York, which is alright.

As of right now, though, I have taken a certain girl into notice. She's a cute, shy girl that is just full of all these happy emotions. Sure, she has her bad, but who could blame her? You might think this is weird, but it's actually Kaede Fuyou, the main female character in Shuffle! She is just everything that has good in it.

We met on a website that I go on and talk with friends on. This website is called Mibba. I was surprised to see a user with her name, information, ect. I thought it was a joke, until we started talking. She told me EVERYTHING about her life, and what's been going on in her life. We've been talking for about 5 months already, and I feel like we've known each other for a long time. And we also have similarities.

One, for starters, is that our mothers are both deceased. But for her, she was fully aware of what happened. I was only 3 when my mom died of a heart attack, so I don't really remember much about her. We also like to read and write. Maybe one day we can write together.

Another thing is that we both can never hate anyone. She's just so kind-hearted and sweet, like an angel. Her voice also contributes to her angelic description. As soon as we started talking on the phone, her voice just sent a rush through my body, and it warmed my heart.

On this day though, my dad and I got into another argument. It was about how I can never keep my room clean, I'm dirty, ect. It didn't matter, until he mentioned our mom.

"I bet if ya mom was still alive, you wouldn't be the way you are today!" he yelled with nothing but anger in his voice. This ticked me off, and I just exploded.

"Well, I wish she was alive instead of you! You always treat me like crap cause I'm the younger one! I wanna just get out of this hellhole!" I ran to my room and closed the door shut, but couldn't lock it due to me not having a lock on it.

I just groaned and turned my computer on, logging on to Mibba. I then clicked on chat just to see if Kaede was online. Thankfully, she was.

I clicked her name and put it on private chat. '_Hey, Kaede-chan.'_ I greeted her with little emotion.

'_Hello, Michael-kun. How are you?'_ she answered back with a sad face ending the sentence. This caught my attention.

'_What's the matter? You're not usually this sad.'_

_'Rin-kun left yesterday. I feel lonely without him here.'_ she replied, now giving me a crying face.

_'Would it be alright if I call?'_ I asked, needing someone to talk to. And she was the one to do that.

_'Okay.'_ I then took out my phone and dialed her number, pressing 'TALK' and putting the phone near my ear. After about 4 rings, I heard a small "Hi."

"Hey, Kaede-chan. I'm sorry to hear about Rin leaving. It must have hurt a lot." I said, trying to comfort her as much as I can.

"It's not your fault. And I respect his wishes. I just wish he were here." I then heard a little sobbing coming from the other line. I just sighed, since I didn't know how to comfort her.

"Well, my dad just yelled at me and brought up my mom. I wanna leave this damned place!" I yelled loud enough so he could hear. I think he got the message by banging on my door.

"W-well, would you like to m-move in with me?" she shakily said, catching me off-guard. Wait, she wanted me to move over there? What the heck?

"Really? You'd let me move with you? But wouldn't it be weird, considering we've only each other for half-a-year?" I pondered to myself how this will play out, but couldn't think of anything.

"It's okay. I won't mind. But I think you should let your dad know."

"Eh, he won't notice. Alright, I'll take your offer." I can hear a sigh of relief coming from her and felt happy. All my problems just washed away.

"I'm so happy! Thank you, Michael-kun!" she exclaimed with a hell of a lot of joy in her system. Was I really that important?

"I should be thanking you. Now, I'll talk to you later. I'm a get my stuff packed up. Okay?" She said yes and we both hanged up. I was filled with so much excitement in my body. And for some reason, I think my dad heard our little conversation.

* * *

After two weeks of packing, and talking to all my friends about it on Facebook, I was about to board the plane to Japan, one of my favorite countries. All my friends and family were there when I was about to leave. Even my ex-girlfriend.

After saying my goodbyes to everyone and especially my family, I boarded the plane, and was on my way to Kaede's house. I was still filled with joy because I get to meet the one girl that I've liked for a while. Sure, we haven't met in person before, but it'll be awesome to know that.

A good 5 or 6 hours passed, and I boarded off the plane. I didn't know Japanese, so it was hard for me to read or understand it. I didn't know where to go, so the only option left was to call Kaede.

"Hello?" I heard her answer.

"Hey Kaede. I'm at the airport, and I honestly can't speak Japanese, so is there a way that you can pick me up?" I asked her. I then felt a tap on my shoulder, making me turn around. What I saw surprised me.

The person standing in front of me was none other than Kaede Fuyou herself, giving me her bright smile. I has to blush due to her beauty. She had beautiful blue eyes, smooth orange hair with a red ribbon in it, and was wearing a pick sweater with a pink skirt and black leggings. _I think I'm in love..._

"Hello, Michael-kun." She greeted me, thus widening her smile. I was just in awe at her.

"H-h-how'd you know it was me?" I stuttered, still finding it surprising for her to find me that easy.

"I can recognize your gray hair and the way you look." Was that a compliment or an insult?

"Wow. You're just awesome. Oh yeah!" Almost forgetting my manners, I bowed at a 90 degree angle. She just giggled.

"You don't need to do that. Now, are we just gonna stand here? We have a taxi waiting for us outside." she said.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" I grabbed her by her hand, making both of us blush, and ran outside to where our taxi was.

When we got there, another figure was sitting in the car. She had lavender-colored hair and look kinda emotionless. She also had indigo-looking eyes.

"Michael, I'd like to introduce you to Primula. Rimu, this is Michael Quinones, the boy I've been telling you about." she told her. Primula just held her hand out.

"Hello." she plainly said. I just smiled and took her hand, shaking it gently.

"It's nice to make your acquaintance, Primula-chan." I greeted with that same smile on my face.

I opened the door for Kaede, showing her my kindness. She blushed a little and smiled.

"Thank you." she muttered as she walked in. I sat right next to her and closed the door. I blushed deeply and just looked at her. She was just a being of pure beauty. No words can describe just how perfect she looked. She sun shined through the taxi, and it shined on her perfect, smooth skin, making it glow.

What I didn't realize was that she laid her head on my shoulder. When I did, I just smiled and let her do as she pleased.

* * *

When we got to the house, I once again opened the door for her and Primula, closing it behind them. I then went to get my luggage from the trunk. It was only about 3 or 4 suitcases. No biggy for me.

What caught my attention was the two houses that sat next to hers. Kaede's house looked like a modern Japanese house would, while the other two looked as if they were rich as hell.

"Kaede-chan, who lives in these houses?" I asked her.

"The one on the right belongs to the king of the Gods, Eustoma, and his daughter Sia, who is the princess of the God realm. The one on the left belongs to the king of the Demons, Forbesii, and his daughter Nerine, who is the princess of the Demon realm." she explained, answering my question.

"Wait, there's gods and demons here?" I asked in surprise. I never thought I'd see the day.

"Yup. Our town is the only one that's integrated with them." she replied. We then walked into the house. (**Well, I kinda forgot how the inside looked, and you guys probably know how it looks like.**)

"Your house looks amazing, Kaede-chan." I complimented, causing a blush to appear on her beautiful face.

"Thank you." she then motioned for me to follow her. I did what I was told, and followed her up the stairs. We then reached a door.

"This can be your room for as long as you're here." she told me with that bright smile to come back.

"Was this Rin's old room, Kaede-chan?" I asked out of interest, which might have been a bad idea. When I went to look at her, her head was looking down at the floor, and her hair was covering her eyes.

She just nodded and looked up with a small smile. "I hope you enjoy your stay!"

"Trust me, you know I will." she just giggled and went downstairs. I then opened the door, looking at my new room. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just gotta fill it up.

It took about 2 hours before I had most of my stuff organized neatly. I had all my games on one shelf, all my books on another, and all my movies on the last one. Lucky for me, there was a table for me to put my computer on. So, I'm good with that. And since the house has a wireless connection, I was able to use my online for my PlayStation 3.

I then heard a knock on my door. "Come in!" I called. Kaede then walked in with her signature smile, as usual.

"I was just checking up on you. Is everything alright?" she asked me. I just nodded. "That's good. There's dinner downstairs, if you'd like some."

"Like? I'd LOVE to taste your cooking!" I loudly said with happiness in my voice. She blushed a deeper red and smiled. She then left my room.

I organized the rest of my stuff and put on some new clothes, then went downstairs. I'm wearing my blue dress shirt, a pair of skinnies with two holes in them, and my black and blue Jordans.

I then saw Kaede and Primula look up at me and smile. I really felt welcomed here, as if I was called by God to come here.

I then sat on the spot across from Kaede and on the side of Primula. She handed me a plate that had different kinds of food in it. It had rice, miso soup, some fish dumplings(**I hate fish, but I'll eat it anyway**), and a little dose of curry. My favorite!

We all then clasped our hands and said "Itadakimatsu!" before we started eating. But there was a small problem: I didn't know how to use chopsticks.

"Uh, Kaede-chan? I...really don't know how to use chopsticks." I blurted out.

She still smiled and showed me how to hold them, and to use them when I'm about to eat. Seemed pretty easy. I got the hang of it, and we ate there in silence. I broke it, though.

"Kaede-chan, your cooking's the best! It's so delicious, it's better than the stuff my sisters make at home!" I yelled, obviously in love with her cooking.

She blushed even more. "T-thank you." she stuttered. She then looked up at me and looked into my eyes. I looked in hers as well. I saw some pain and sadness, and I also saw happiness. I want to see all her happiness.

"Um, Kaede-chan, I know this may sound out of line, but do you mind showing me how this Rin guy looks like?" I asked her. She took out her wallet and showed me a picture of Rin and her, with his arm around her shoulders. He looks decent. Wonder what made him not wanna date Kaede.

"This was when he took me out after I recovered from my sickness." she said with a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Well, that was nice of him. I bet he's a cool guy."

"He is a cool guy." Primula replied, still showing no emotions on her face whatsoever.

"Ah. So, are you her little sister?" I asked her. She nodded in response.

"To an extent. I took her in after Rin found her. She's been living with us ever since." Kaede explained, making sense.

"Awesome! So, how's about I clean the dishes for you guys? I still wanna show my gratitude for you letting me move in, Kaede-chan." I offered, still warm inside knowing that Kaede cares about me.

"Are you sure you can do it yourself?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Okay then." she said in a cheery way as her and Primula went to the family room. There wasn't that much dishes to clean, so I did it in no time. Soon after, I felt a bit tired and went to my new room to crash.

As soon as I was about to close my eyes, a knock came to my door. I groaned and got up, walking to it and opening it, revealing Kaede.

"Hey, Kaede-chan. What's up?" I casually asked.

What she did next just surprised me. She just gave me a hug and layed her head in my chest. I smiled and held her close to me.

"Thank you for coming here. Now, I don't feel lonely." she said with a bit of shakiness in her voice.

"I'm the that should be thanking you for even letting me stay here. If it wasn't for you, I would have never seen what a true angel looked like." she just blushed mad hard and looked away.

We then separated after a good 3 minutes or so. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then?"

"Hai." she said.

"Well, goodnight. And, once again, thank you very much for letting me stay here." I told her with sincerity in my voice. I meant every word I said.

"What are friends for, right? And goodnight." She then gave me a small kiss on the cheek and walked away to her room. I was just speechless and blushing at what happened. Did she just kiss my cheek? Awesome!

With all that energy, I went back in my room and started going on Mibba to talk to all my friends.

"No way! You're with Kaede Fuyou? Dude, you're freaking lucky!" my friend The Doctor told me.

"I hope you're happy there, and have a fun time!" my other friend Moonlight_1341 said.

"Trust me, I know I will. And I'm happy for even knowing her." With that said, and talking to a few more friends, I shut off my computer and laid in my bed.

_Today's been an awesome day. I can't wait for tomorrow though. _I thought as I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, I awoke to an alarm clock. As I was about to shut it off, I sensed a hand and the sound disappeared. I looked up to see that it was Kaede that shut off the alarm for me.

"Good morning, Michael-kun." she greeted. I just rubbed my eyes and looked at the time. _4:30! Holy crap, it's mad early!_

"Morning, Kaede-chan. Why are you up so early?" I asked with curiosity. She just smiled still.

"I always get up at this time." she answered, shocking me. _Always? Damn._

"Well, don't stress yourself, okay? I don't want you crashing later on in the day." I told her.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Anyways, there's some warm breakfast waiting for you downstairs." she said. She then turned around and walked out of my room.

"Kaede-chan, you are truly one amazing girl." I muttered to myself as I got up and went to pick out clothes for me to wear. I then put on a red shirt, black pants, and a pair of socks and went downstairs. When I came down, Kaede was finished preparing breakfast for us.

"Breakfast is ready." she said as she put our breakfast on the table.

"Arigatou." I thanked her and took my spot across her and picked up my chopsticks.

"Itadakimatsu!" we called and then ate breakfast. _Holy crap, I think I'm in heaven!_ I mentally said as I ate the food at a faster pace.

Kaede just giggled. "Slow down, I don't want you to choke."

By the time she said that, I was already done with my food. "Done!" I called and showed her my plate, laughing.

"What do you think? Did you like it?" she asked with a blush on her face.

"Liked it? I LOVED it! I swear, your food is the best!" Her blush then deepened and she smiled.

"I'm glad you liked it." she happily said. I then took my plate to the sink and cleaned it, making sure to dry it off and putting it away.

I then looked at what Kaede was wearing. She wore a shirt with brown and white colors with a bow on the neck part and a white skirt. I was amazed at what she was wearing.

"You look pretty, Kaede-chan." I told her, causing a blush to form again. She then looked away to hide the blush, but I can tell she was.

"A-arigatou." she stuttered, giving me a big smile.

"So, you going to school today?" I asked, cleaning the dishes that were in the sink so she wouldn't have to do it.

"Yeah. Are you gonna be okay here by yourself?" she asked with concern, but I simply nodded.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm just gonna put the rest of my stuff away, then chill for a while until you get back." I informed her.

"Alright. Rimu, let's go!" she called, and then Primula walked down the stairs with the almost same uniform.

"Okay." she plainly said. She then got her bag and put her shoes on.

As soon as Kaede opened the door, a girl with ruby-colored hair and short pointy ears and a girl with indigo-colored hair with longer pointy ears were outside the door.

"Morning, Kaede!" The red-head yelled cheerfully.

"Good morning, Kaede." the other one greeted with a hint of shyness in her voice. Oh yes, I can hear it.

"Good morning, everyone!" Kaede greeted back. She then turned around and saw me looking at the two girls with a look of confusion.

"Hey, who's that guy? Never seen him before." the red-head stated.

I stepped forward so that they can both see me. "Allow me to indroduce myself. My name's Michael Quinones. It's an honor to make your acquaintance." I greeted with manners and then bowed to show it.

"It's nice to meet you! My name's Lisianthus, but everyone calls me Sia! I'm the princess of the God realm." the red-haired girl made my head jerk up at this and made my eyes widen. _SHE's the princess! Holy crap!_

"And my name's Nerine. It's nice to meet you too. I'm the princess of the Demon realm." the purple-haired one said, making my face turn into one that showed disbelief. _Oh my god, I never thought they'd look this beautiful!_

Kaede saw my face and looked worried. "Michael-kun, are you okay? You look a bit pale." She walked over to me and out her hand on my forehead, causing me to blush a deep shade of red.

"I-I'm fine! Don't worry. I'm just in awe and surprise. It's an honor to be in your presence, princesses!" I exclaimed, bowing my head even more.

Sia just giggled at this sight. "You don't have to do all that. Besides, I wish that you can treat us the same way you treat everyone else." she said.

"I agree. We don't really like being seen as such." Nerine added.

"You got it! So, all four of ya go to the same school?" I asked then out of curiosity.

"Yeah. We're all seniors except for Primula. She's starting her first year." Kaede explained.

"Ah, I see. And seeing as how I'm gonna have to enroll there, I might as well try to learn some Japanese and get my stuff together." I said.

"What grade are you in, Michael-san?" Sia asked me.

"Well, I'm gonna start 10th grade this fall." I replied, giving them looks of shock.

"You're only in 9th grade? You look like you're in 12th!" Sia exclaimed. I just laughed a little and nodded.

"Doesn't everyone think that. Anyways, aren't you guys supposed to head there already?" I asked them, pointing at the time.

"You're right! We need to hurry!"

"Kaede-chan, you're gonna leave that bento box for me or is that for you?" I asked her as she turned around.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" She ran to get her bento and then came back to the front. "Thank you for reminding me. I'll see you when I get back, okay?"

"You know it!" I responded and clenched my fist with a smile on my face. She giggled and she was off to school.

_Now, off to do stuff!_ I told myself mentally and ran up to my room, about to start unpacking everything else.

After about at least an hour of getting the room the way I wanted, I turned on my computer and checked my email, then to download more songs onto my iPod.

When I finished downloading about 15 songs, I turned my computer off and then laid on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and then drifted to sleep.

_I then opened my eyes, only to find myself in nothing but black. I looked at my surroundings, but I only saw black._

* * *

"_What the hell's going on?" I said to myself. Suddenly, a bright light consume me, and I then saw myself looking at kid Kaede. It was raining hard outside, and she glared at me. I looked at myself, and realized I looked nothing like me. I was another kid that I couldn't recall._

"_I hate you." she muttered with anger in her voice. I was wondering why she said that._

"_Kaede-" the person I was said, but was cut off my Kaede._

"_I hate you! Just DIE!" she yelled, thunder roaring in the skies loudly when she said that._

* * *

"Aaaarrrrrggghh!" I yelled and then awoken to find myself in my bed, sweat drenching the whole thing. _Was that a dream or something?_ I thought as I got up from the bed and walked slowly to the bathroom.

I washed my face with cold water and then looked at myself in the mirror. I don't like the way I look, honestly. I had short black hair with white in it as well, I had sideburns and a small beard growing, and I was chubby. Not a pretty sight, in my opinion. I just wish it could go away, and I can look normal.

When I was done, I left the bathroom and went to go take another nap, but on the couch in the family room. Since my bed was covered in sweat, I just decided to chill out here. I closed my eyes and went back to my new nap.

By the time I woke up again, I smelled something delicious. Getting up, I walked to the kitchen to see Kaede there making some lunch.

She noticed me standing there and smiled. "Hello, sleepyhead." she said with a giggle. I couldn't help but giggle a bit too.

"Hey. I didn't hear you come in." I mumbled, seeing as how I just woke up.

"I just came in. How was your day?" she said, still cooking whatever awesome food it was.

"Well, I finished unpacking my stuff, and then I decided to take a nap." I replied, making sure to leave out my nightmare of her.

"Alright. I'm making dinner right now, so relax for now. Okay?" Her smile was just so beautiful, it glowed with the light of the Sun.

"Alright. Kaede, did you know that you're so beautiful?" She instantly blushed deeply and turned away. I couldn't help but smile at her reaction.

"A-arigatou." she stuttered, going back to making dinner. Honestly, that reaction was so adorable. I think I've got a crush on her. Knowing her made me happy as hell, but being in the same house with her just made me feel like the luckiest guy to ever live.

After a good hour, she was done cooking. But we decided to wait, seeing as how it was still early. We were sitting in the family room, side-by-side, silently. We didn't know what to talk about. I decided to break the silence.

"So, was school fun?" I randomly asked her.

"Yeah. I had a good time." she replied. Silence again. _Okay, this has to stop._

"Kaede-chan, can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if you can show me around town. I'd like to know how the town looks and stuff." I said with a light blush.

"Of course I would. That'd be great." she answered with her signature smile on. I lit up like a light bulb with so much happiness.

"Thank you so much, Kaede-chan!"

"No problem. So, would you like your food now?" she asked, getting up from her spot and heading for the door.

"Of course! I'd love to taste your awesome food!" She simply blushed and walked out. Now, I was thinking of the tour with her. _Could it be a date? Nah. Besides, she might like Rin still. But me going in the city with her...it's like a dream come true._

"Michael-kun, dinner's ready!" Kaede's angelic voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"Coming!" I called back and went to the kitchen. When I got there, Kaede and Primula were already sitting at the table. I then took my spot and joined them.

"Itadakimatsu!" we all yelled and then picked up our chopsticks and ate.

After that awesome meal, I decided to clean up the dishes again. It's the least I could do. As I was washing, I saw Kaede come up to me.

"Oh, hey Kaede-chan. What's up?" I asked.

"Do you need any help with the dishes?" she asked me, but I shook my head.

"I got this. You just relax. Besides, you were up since 4:30. I don't want you working yourself too hard." I assured her, then finished up the dishes.

"Alright. Would you like to join me?" she blushed deeply and shaked when asking that.

"Of course I'd join you." I replied, then walked with her to the living room and we both sat on one couch. When we sat down, she laid her head on my shoulder, obviously tired from a long day. I just smiled and stared at her beautiful face. She looked so precious when she was sleeping.

* * *

When I checked the time, it was 9:30. I gently tapped her shoulder so she can wake up. It did the trick. "Kaede-chan, if you're tired, I'll take you to your room okay?"

"Okay." she muttered, still a bit tired. I then carried her, bridal-style, to her room. She blushed so hard, she was redder than a tomato. I opened her door, then laid her gently on her bed.

"A-arigatou for bringing me to bed." she said while shaking and blushing still.

"No problem. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" I told her.

"Okay. Goodnight, Michael-kun."

"Goodnight, Kaede-chan." I couldn't help but give her a small kiss on her cheek before I left her room. As I was walking to my room, I stopped and touched my lips. _Her cheek's so smooth,_ I thought as I smiled wide and went inside my room.

After listening to my iPod for a while and checking my computer, I went to sleep. Honestly, I never thought I'd feel this happy being with Kaede(not in the dating way). This is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I never want it to end.

And I also realized I've gotten attracted to her. To me, everything about her is perfect. I've never met someone as perfect as her. My feelings for her have grown exponentially. I don't just like her.

But would it be too soon to say I'm in love with her? We'll just have to see.

**So, what do ya think? Pretty decent for a start, eh? I hope so!**

**And I'm gonna try to update this story faster. I don't wanna leave it alone like I did with my other stories. I hope this becomes as good as Different Days.**

**Well, that's it for now. Until next time!**

**Mike**

**:)**


	2. City Tour & Kaede's Fever

**Me: Hello everyone! This is Mike, and I'm here with Chapter 2 of my Shuffle fanfic "A New Life". **

**Primula: Good luck with your relationship.**

**Me: R-relationship? **

**Primula: Yes. With Kaede.**

**Me: -blushes- We're just friends! We're not dating or anything!**

**Primula: Sure?**

**Me: Yes!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that involves Shuffle!. Shuffle belongs to Navel. Besides, if I did own it, Kaede would be the one happy at the end.**

Chapter 2: City Tour & Kaede's Sickness

That Tuesday afternoon, Kaede took me on a grand tour of the city after coming home from school. She showed lots of interesting sights, such as the arcade...

"That's where Rin first met Rimu." Kaede told me. She had told me the whole story on the chatroom a few months ago.

"Really? I bet he was surprised as hell when he saw her, as told by you." I replied to her.

Then we stopped at a little restaurant called Flora. I had bought her some juice while I took an Arizona. It's surprising that they sell these things in Japan.

"Hey Kaede!" a voice called out to her. The voice belonged to a girl around Kaede's age, and she had short green hair and a brown ribbon holding onto one piece of hair. She also had a really nice...chest ares. "Hey, who's this handsome boy with you?" she asked.

"My name is Michael Quinones. It's an honor to meet you." I said kindly, bowing to show respect.

Kaede and the girl giggles. "Ya know, you don't have to be so formal." The girl said. "My name is Asa Shigure." _'Ah, so that's the girl Kaede told me was dating Rin.'_

"It's an honor to meet you then, Asa-sempai." I greeted her. She giggled at the sound of 'sempai.'

"You are the second guy to call me that." She replied. _'I can guess who the first guy was.'_

All of a sudden, another girl wearing the same outfit as Asa came out fo the restaurant. She had light blonde hair and had the same long ears as Sia, thus making me realize she was from the realm of the Gods.

"Is he your new boyfriend Kaede?" the girl asked randomly.

"Uhh..." Both Kaede and I blushed quietly and looked down to the ground, for we were trying hard not show we were blushing. We looked back up a second later to see the blonde haired girl glowing and saying "Oh la la!"

"And she's gone again." groaned Asa.

"It's so beautiful!" said the blonde haired girl. "Kaede-san has found her new soul mate."

"That's Kareha." Asa said after a few seconds. "She does this all the time, even when she sees a boy and a girl together." she then looked over to Kareha. "I told you before that a boy can hang out with a girl without it being a date!" Then she looked over to us. "So, _are_ you two on a date?" she asked.

Neither Kaede or I answered, thus making Kareha glow more. "So they ARE on a date!" she exclaimed with such excitement.

"But we haven't said one thing yet." I said.

"You don't need to. The silence gives me all the answers I need, which is you are dating. Oh la la!" _'Oh god.'_

* * *

After our meet with Asa and Kareha, Kaede showed me more interesting sights, including the one spot that brought a small tear to her eyes. I looked at her shed tears already.

"Is that the place you told Asa how you felt about Rin?" I asked.

"Yes." she sighed unhappily. Since I didn't like seeing such a beautiful girl shed ANY tears, I grabbed her waist and pulled her to me, embracing her in my arms. She was shocked at first, but then hugged back. We stood like this for a while before we separated and continued with the 'grand' tour.

Our last stop was Verbana High School, which was Kaede's (and soon to be my) school.

"What do you think of it Michael?" she asked me.

"It's freaking huge!" I gasped in shock. "It's WAY bigger than my old school. But, then again, so are many others."

"Would you like to see the inside?" she asked.

"Might as well, since I'm gonna go here next week." I told her. She whipped out her signature smile, making me smile as well.

So Kaede lead me into the school. It was pretty quiet with only a few students walking around and doing some after school activities.

"So you've got a new boyfriend, eh?" called another voice from behind us.

I got so startled from the voice behind us that I actually jumped. "That came out of nowhere." I said quietly to Kaede. Then all I could see was flashes coming from someone's camera.

"Incredible..." that person said. I couldn't see who it was. "Kaede and Rin broke a couple of weeks ago, and now she got herself a new boyfriend. God, this is great."

At last the flashes stopped, revealing a teenage girl with short grey hair and different colored eyes and holding onto a camera. _'She looks kinda cute.'_

"So who's your new boyfriend, Kaede?" the girl asked. "How old is he? Where did he come from?"

"You're just full of questions today, aren't you Mayumi-chan?" called another voice. It was coming from a teenage boy who was standing outside the door of one of the classrooms. He had brown hair and glasses.

"Just stay out of this Itsuki!" Mayumi snapped.

"To answer all of your questions, my name's Michael Quinones." I answered, grabbing Mayumi's and Itsuki's attention. "I'm 15 years old, and I had arrived here from New York on Monday. I am currently living at Kaede-chan's house." I thoroughly explained.

"You're living with Kaede?" Mayumi exclaimed in shock. Then she showed a small smirk on her face. "You sure don't waste any time don't you Kaede?"

"Mayumi-chan..." Kaede groaned.

"Hold on a second here." Itsuki spoke up. "If you were living in New York, then how the hell did you and Kaede-chan meet?"

"We met on an online chatroom. " I answered, "We've been talking online for five months. That is, until Kaede-chan invited me to move in with her." I looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"What about your family and friends?" Mayumi asked me. "Won't they miss you?"

"Some will and some won't. I'll say this though: I prefer living with Kaede-chan and Primula-chan than with my asshole of a father. Seriously, the guy treats me like shit cause I'm the youngest." This sparked their attentions again, except for Kaede's, since she already knew. "Surprising, huh?"

"Well we hope that you will enjoy living here Michael." said Itsuki. "And listen, if you ever need any advice about the ladies, then all you need to do is-"

Itsuki was cut off by something hard smacked him in the face. Mayumi had knocked the fuck out of the guy. "Enough of you crap! We don't need another jerk coming into this school who's like you!"

"That's a little harsh isn't it?" I whispered to Kaede.

"It is." she whispered back.

* * *

By the time our tour was done, the sun was going down for the day. Kaede and I walked along side by side back to the house. I had stopped, making Kaede look back at me. "Kaede' thanks for showing me around town."

"You're welcome Michael-kun." she said. "Did you have a good time today?"

"Do I really have to answer that?" I replied. "Hey, Kaede, would it be alright if we...if we could hold hands?" I asked her, blushing a bit. "I-it's okay if you don't want to."

She didn't answer - instead, she grabbed my hand with her hand. I was surprised at first, but then I smiled real wide.

"Of course we can hold hands." she answered me at last.

I rubbed a small portion of her skin; it felt so smooth. Her cheeks went red as she blush and so did mine. This was the first time we have EVER held hands, and it felt so awesome. Hell, we never let go of our hands, even when we reached the house.

At around five fifteen that evening, I walked into the kitchen to see how Kaede was doing. She was busy cooking at this time.

"Damn, that food smell amazing!" I said, making Kaede blush a bit. "So, how was school today?" I asked her.

"It was okay." I could see a small tear coming down from her right eye.

"What's wrong?" I walked over to her.

"I...I saw Rin-kun today." she said sadly. _'Doesn't she see him everyday, though?'_ "I know it's been a couple of weeks since that...'incident' occurred, but...I...I still miss having him around here."

More tears started to come out of her. Noticing this, I had embraced her again, this time more lovingly. Instantly, she had broken down crying in my shoulder. "It's okay. Let it all out. I'm here for you." I whispered to her. After three to four minutes later, Kaede started to calm down.

"Thank you Michael-kun." she said to me. Still seeing a few tears, I brushed them off with my thumb.

"You're very welcome, Kaede." I gave her a small kiss on the left side of her face. Realizing what I did, I blushed beat red instantly. Instead of getting smacked or getting Kaede to be as shy as she always is, she kissed my cheek back.

"Is it okay if we hug for a few more minutes?" Kaede asked me.

"You don't even have to ask." I replied, loving the warmth of her body.

She turned off the stove, and I had went to go turn on the radio that I had put in the kitchen. Then, we back to our hugging session. Surprising to me, the song "Without You" by one of my favorite bands Breaking Benjamin was playing. _'They play their music in Japan? I knew they were amazing!'_

Dinner was delicious tonight and I told that to Kaede too, which made her very happy. While we were eating, I was listening and singing to the songs on the radio. The song playing right now was "Yours To Hold" by Skillet.

"That song is good." Primula said.

"I know. What do you think, Kaede-chan?" I asked.

"I think it's beautiful." she replied with a big smile.

After we were done eating dinner, I offered to wash all the dishes again.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you?" Kaede asked.

"I'm positive." I answered her with a smile on my face.

"Well okay. If you need me, I'm going to be in the family room okay?"

"You got it, ma'am!" I said with a big smile.

It didn't take me too long to finish, so once I was done, I walked over to the family room. Kaede was in there alone.

"Where's Rimu-chan?" I asked.

"She's gone to bed already." she answered.

I checked the time, it was only seven. "It's mad early!" I said out loud.

"It is, but she said she felt a little tired tonight. Would you like to sit next to me for a while?" she offered, patting the cushion right next to her.

"You don't have to ask me twice!" So I walked over to the couch and sat down right next to Kaede.

Like I said before, I don't understand Japanese that well, so Kaede had english subtitles on. She was watching an anime show, one I haven't seen yet. The name of the anime was called "Kanon (2006)". _'Wow, now I get to watch it. Thank God Kaede has it.'_

While we were watching it, Kaede had laid her head on my shoulder. I blushed deeply and looked down at her. She has a very beautiful, majestic, angelic face. I smiled really wide and used my hand to brush her hair gently. _'She really does look like an angel.'_ I thought.

Before long, the anime had finished its episode, and it was already time for Kaede to go to bed for school tomorrow. We both walked up the stairs and stopped in front of her room.

"I'll see you in the morning Michael-kun." she called quietly to me.

"Alright then. 'Night, Kaede-chan." I called back to her.

As soon as she ascended into her room, I walked over to my room, closed it, and leaned against it. "Now I'm sure I'm in love." I said to myself. I walked over to my bed, put my music on, and drifted to sleep. The song that made me sleep was "This Love, This Hate" by Hollywood Undead.

* * *

The next morning, I had put on a white tanktop and went downstairs to check up on what Kaede was doing. She was just making her awesome breakfast.

"Good morning Kaede-chan." I greeted her.

Kaede didn't answer me. Instead, she started to fall back. I ran over towards her and caught her just before she hit the floor.

"K-Kaede-chan! Are you okay?" She was breathing heavily. I placed my forehead on hers; it felt warm, "Your head is really warm. You've got a fever."

Kaede's eyes opened at that moment. Her cheeks were already red, but now they were blushing a deep shade of red as our faces were close to each other.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I-I'm fine. Don't worry about me..." she answered.

"You say you're fine, but your body says otherwise." I told her. "Come. I'll take you to bed."

Before Kaede could say anything, I had lifted her up in my arms bridal style, causing her to blush. I then took her to her room so she could rest.

Once she was laying down on her bed, I stepped out and went back to the kitchen to make sure the stove was off.

"Kaede's sick again isn't she?" Primula asked as she stepped out of the family room.

"She is, sadly." I answered.

Primula walked past me. "I need to get a few things. I'll be back soon."

"Got it. See you when you come back." So while Primula out getting whatever she needed to get, I phoned Kaede's school and told them she would not be coming in, then I went upstairs to see how she was.

I knocked on the door several times, but there was no answer. "Kaede, are you alright in there?" I said from the door.

"I'm okay." she called.

"Can I come in?"

"Y-yeah."

I opened the door and entered her room. Kaede was in bed with a clothe on her forehead. She also had some tears in her eyes. "I know I must be annoying every time I cry." she sobbed.

"Annoying? Please, Kaede-chan." I said, walking over to her bed and sitting next to her. "It's not annoying for somebody to cry. To me, it shows if they're truly feeling emotions like sadness or depression."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." A small smile came back, but then it disappeared. "What's wrong, Kaede?"

"I hate being sick. It makes me feel useless." she said, looking down.

"Kaede, if you were useless, then I wouldn't be here." I replied to her. Then, I gave her a small kiss on her cheek. "Don't you ever say that you're useless, okay?"

"Okay." She got up and kissed me on the right side of my face, which made me blush bright red.

* * *

Throughout the rest of the day, I stayed with Kaede just to keep her company. I told her a bit about some of my friends and my family, she listened to me with great interest.

"I had a lot of friends. And all of them treated me like family. I'ma miss them." I said, looking a bit sad. To comfort me, Kaede hugged me. I blushed a bit but hugged her back. "Thanks a lot, Kaede-chan."

"You're welcome, Michael-kun."

Primula came in soon with medicine. "Here you go, Kaede." she said kindly.

"Thank you Rimu." Kaede excepted the medicine and took it. "I feel better already." she said happily.

Primula then offered to cook up dinner tonight, "I'll be back as soon as it's done." she said and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

While we waited for Primula to return, Kaede told me some stories from her childhood. She had lots of great stories to tell. She also had some bad stories. Most of them involved her and Rin.

"I remember you telling me this off Mibba. I gotta admit, Rin has balls to risk his own life to save yours." I told her. She then looked down. "Still miss him, eh?"

She nodded. "S-sorry."

"Don't sweat it! Hell, I would be this emotional if the stuff happening to you happened to me." I said with a giggle. She smiled once more.

Primula came back thirty minutes with chicken noodle soup for Kaede and noodles for myself.

"Where are you going Rimu?" Kaede asked as Primula headed towards the door.

"I'm going downstairs to clean up the dishes and then eat my food." Then she added with a smirk, "I know you two want some time to be alone." When she said that, both Kaede and I started blushing at the same time, deep red.

"Michael-kun," Kaede spoke up after she was done eating, "are you happy being here?"

"Do I HAVE to answer? Of course being here makes me happy! Besides, if you don't mind me saying this, but the best part about living here is that I get to wake up to you, Kaede-chan." Saying that made Kaede blush.

"I don't mind if you say that." she was smiling. "To be honest with you, I was gonna say the same thing."

"R-really?" I said, surprised.

"Yes."

She then got up and hugged me again. "Ever since you came here, I've been really, really happy." she said while tears came out of her eyes again. "Don't ever leave me, Michael. Please..."

"Kaede, as long as I'm here with you, I'll always be by your side. I'd never ever leave you."

I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close to me. While hugging her, a song had come into my head. As soon as it did, tears started forming in my eyes.

"Michael-kun, are you alright?" Kaede asked me out of worry.

"Y-yeah." I said, wiping the tears. "I just thought of a song."

"Really? Which one?" She was more interested now.

"It's called 'Not Alone' by Red. If you want me to, I can sing it for you." I offered. Kaede smiled really wide when I told her I'd sing.

"Really?" she asked.

"Of course. Let me just put the song on." I said. After taking out my iPod and plugging in Kaede's mini-speakers into it, the song started playing.

* * *

_Slowly fading away  
You're lost and so afraid  
Where is the hope In a world so cold?  
Looking for a distant light  
Someone who can save a life  
Living in fear that no one will hear your cries_

_(Can you save me now)_

_I am with you_  
_I will carry you through it all_  
_I won't leave you_  
_I will catch you_  
_When you feel like letting go_  
_'Cause you're not_  
_You're not alone_

_Your heart is full of broken dreams_  
_Just a fading memory_  
_And everything's gone_  
_But the pain carries on_  
_Lost in the rain again_  
_When will it ever end?_  
_It's Hard to believe_  
_It seems so out of reach_

_But I_  
_(I am here)_

_I am with you_  
_I will carry you through it all_  
_I won't leave you_  
_I will catch you_  
_When you feel like letting go_  
_'Cause you're not_  
_You're not alone_

_And I will be your hope_  
_When you feel like it's over_  
_And I will pick you up_  
_When your whole world shatters_  
_When you're finally in my arms_  
_Look up and see love has a face_

_I am with you_  
_I will carry you through it all_  
_I won't leave you_  
_I will catch you_  
_When you feel like letting go_  
_'Cause you're not_  
_You're not alone_

_And I will be your hope_  
_You're not alone_  
_And I will pick you up_  
_And i will be your hope_

_Slowly fading away_  
_Lost and so afraid_  
_Where is the hope in a world so cold?_

* * *

As soon as I stopped singing, I was already on the verge of crying. And from the looks of it, so was Kaede. Only this time, it was tears of happiness.

"M-Michael..." Kaede started. "t-that song is so beautiful."

"You like it? I actually sang it for you." I told her, tears still in my arms. _'Oh God, I'm about to cry my eyes out.'_

Before I could do anything, Kaede had laid her head in my shoulder, crying her eyes out. I smiled and started to cry with her. During our 'session', I was just holding her tightly as if she was gonna slip from my arms.

After a while of holding and crying, we had separated and just looked into each others' eyes. I can see some pain in her eyes, but I can also see a lot of happiness.

I hugged her tightly one more time, showing her how much I appreciated her. She hugged me back with the same amount of feeling. After that, I had gotten up from her bed and picked up her plate and put it on my plate.

"Well, I guess it's time for you to get some rest, missy. You've got school tomorrow, right?" I asked her. She nodded. "Alright then. Well, I'ma leave you to your beauty nap."

"Okay. Oh, and Michael?" Kaede shyly said.

"What is it?"

"T-thank you." She was blushing deeply as she said this, but she also had her beautiful smile on.

"No problem. It's what friends are for, right?" I then turned off the light in her room. "Goodnight, Kaede-chan."

"Goodnight, Michael-kun." she replied. "My best friend."

Hearing that brought warmth into my heart as I closed her door. I then made my way to the kitchen so that I can clean up our dishes. During this time, all I was thinking about was Kaede.

_'How the hell did Rin hurt such a girl like her? As a matter of fact, why DIDN'T that bastard choose her?'_ I thought to myself as I finished the dishes. Then, I walked back upstairs to my room. But, not before I creaked open Kaede's door to check on her. She was still sleeping.

"Rest well, Kaede-chan." I whispered as I closed her door gently and made my way to my room. As soon as I got in there, I laid on my bed, put on "Not Alone", and just drifted to sleep, dreaming of Kaede's angelic being.

* * *

**Me: Well, how was that? I hope it makes up for the long wait. **

**Matt: Well, I hope it does as well. I worked hard on this chapter for you.**

**Me: Matt, I couldn't thank you enough for this. This chapter was awesome, and I think my editing was pretty awesome too.**

**Primula: You and Kaede are really starting to get close.**

**Me: Yes, I know. And I enjoy it. But, I still want to wait before anything happens. I mean, she still misses Rin.**

**Primula: That is true.**

**Me: Once again, I thank Matt for helping me write this chapter! And I like to thank all my readers who have liked and reviewed my story so far! Well, I hope it wasn't a letdown!**

**So, until next time! Take care everyone!**

**Mike :)**


	3. The Confrontation & Michael Snaps

**Me: Hello everyone! It's ya man Mike here, and I'm giving you the next chapter of my awesome new series "A New Life"!**

**Primula: I've heard that this chapter is going to be intense. Is that true, Michael?**

**Me: Yeah. A lot of things are going to happen. We get to see just how much I care for Kaede. **

**Primula: And how much would that be?**

**Me: You just gotta read and find out!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shuffle!. Shuffle is owned by Navel. Although, owning this anime WOULD be interesting.**

Chapter 3: The Confrontation & Michael Snaps

"Kaede-chan, hurry up! If you don't, then we'll be late!" I called to her from the family room.

"I'm coming!" she called back, running down the stairs.

If you're wondering what's going on, well today is the day that I have to take a test in order to get into Verbana Academy. It has been a week since Kaede got sick, and during that time she was helping me with my Japanese. In return, I was helping her with her English a bit more. Now, she is able to talk English without a flaw. As for me, I can speak Japanese, although I can do better.

Anyways, right now I'm just wearing regular clothing. It consists of a red T-shirt, black skinny jeans, and my red and black sneakers. I am also wearing my watch I had gotten from my grandmother on Christmas.

As for Kaede, she was in her usual school uniform. I have already described it, and I still think it's beautiful on Kaede. She was also wearing it because she still had classes to go to today.

"So, we ready to go?" I asked her, making sure I had my iPod with me and my pencils for the examination.

"Almost. Rimu, are you ready?" Kaede called.

"Yes." Primula said from behind me, causing me to jump from being startled.

"Rimu-chan, please don't do that." I said with a sweat drop.

"Gomenasai." she said in Japanese. Since I've seen anime, I already knew it meant "I'm sorry".

"Well, let's be on our way!" I exclaimed as I got my shoes on and opened the door. As I opened it, two familiar figures were in front. It was none other than Nerine and Sia.

"Ohaiyo, Kae-chan! Rimu-chan! Michael-kun!" Sia greeted.

"Yes, good morning everyone." Nerine added with a small bow.

"Mornin' people!" I greeted the two princesses.

"Good morning." Kaede and Primula said at the same time. I looked over to them and chuckled a bit.

"So, are you ready for the test, Michael-kun?" Sia asked me.

"I guess so. Kaede-chan's been teaching me a lot of Japanese for the past week. And since I'm a good listener, I can remember all of the stuff she taught me." I replied to her.

Kaede blushed as I said that. "O-oh, it was nothing. I just wanted to help you study for it."

"And you did. And I'm still grateful for it." As we walked up the hill, two new figures appeared in front of us. One, being the girl I just met last week, Asa. The other one was...

"Ohaiyo, Rin-kun!" Sia called to him.

My eyes widened as I now faced the man behind all of the stuff going on. But, I didn't wanna make a bad first impression. Yet.

"Ohaiyo gozaimatsu!" Rin called back to everyone. Then, his eyes laid on me. "Hey, who's that? I've never seen him before."

I stepped up so that I can face the bastard. "The name's Michael Quinones. Nice to meet ya." I greeted him, holding out my hand.

"It's nice to meet you as well. My name's Rin Tsuchimi." he greeted me back and took my hand to shake it. During our handshake, I had squeezed his hand as hard as I could so that it could hurt him. He pulled his hand away quickly and looked up to see an angry expression by me.

"Is there a problem, Rin-kun?" Kaede asked him when she saw his crept out expression.

"Yeah. IS there a problem, Rin?" I said, still having that angry look on my face.

"N-no. I'm fine." he said and then turned over to Asa and then walked with her. We all then followed the two.

"Michael-kun, are you okay?" Kaede asked me with worry in her tone.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." I said as kindly as possible. She then gave me her signature smile and walked up to where Rin was.

I didn't want to start thinking of anything bad, so I put on my iPod and started rocking out. The song I was rocking out to was "Never Too Late" by Three Days Grace. Suddenly, without realizing, I started to sing it. I was really into the song. I was literally singing it and acting as if I was playing the guitar. By the time I finished it, all eyes were on me. I blushed out of embarrassment.

"Uh...how long was I singing?" I asked the group.

"The whole time." Asa answered. I blushed even more deeper. Then, everyone started to laugh. I looked at them, and then I laughed as well. At least they weren't laughing AT me.

We have finally made it in front of the school. I can see many students walking into the huge building that was Verbana Academy. We walked over to where the lockers where we parted ways with Asa and Primula.

"Have a good day, Rimu-chan! Asa-sempai!" I called to them.

"You too! And good luck with the exam!" Asa replied as she went to her class.

* * *

The test was tough at first, like all tests normally are. But, I finally finished the damn thing and asked the teacher what period this was.

"It's lunch period. If you'd like, you can walk around the school until lunch is over." he replied to me.

"Thanks. You know what? I just might do that." With that said, I decided to go over to Kaede's classroom.

_"I wonder if Kaede would like to have lunch with me today."_ I thought to myself.

I had finally reached her classroom. As I open the door, I notice that Kaede, Sia, and Nerine were crowding Rin's desk.

"Did you forget your lunch Rin-kun?" Kaede asked him.

"Yeah, I did. Sorry." he sighed.

"Why that lying son of a bitch." I growled quietly to myself, making sure nobody heard me. Didn't he have Asa make lunch for him?

"If you want some of my lunch, then take it." Kaede said as she put her lunch on his desk. I clenched my fists as my anger was increasing exponentially.

I had expected Rin to say "No thanks, Kaede. Asa-san made me some for today". Instead, I heard this: "Thanks, Kaede. I'm starving."

And he's not even concerned about her - well, that finally did it. My anger finally got the best of me, as I ran over to him and punched him dead in the face, knocking him out his chair.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" He yelled in shock, rubbing his cheek.

"You bastard!" I snapped, letting out all the hatred I've been building up inside me. "Inconsiderate jackass! You have a fucking girlfriend, yet Kaede STILL sacrifices time out of her life to show you her feelings! You never gave a fuck about her feelings, did you!" While saying this, I was on top of him, punching him repeatedly in the face. Blood started to gush out of his mouth. "Did you ever ONCE think of what the meaning is behind Kaede's beautiful smile, huh!"

"Finally, somebody is kicking Rin's sorry ass for once!" shouted one of the male students in the classroom. He was cheering, and so were half the students in the classroom.

After I felt like I've done enough to the asshole, I got up from his badly beaten body. "Low-life scum of the earth." I turned around to see Rin's so-called "harem" staring me down with looks of shock, surprise, fright, and confusion. But, when I looked at Kaede, she was on the verge of breaking down.

"M-Michael...why..." she shakily said. She didn't put the honorific for my name like she always does...

"K-Kaede..." I started, walking over to her. She started to back away in fright. I tried to put my hand on her shoulder, but she had already turned around and ran out the classroom. "Kaede!" I then ran as fast as I could to try and find her. I searched for about 10 or so minutes, but had no luck of her whereabouts.

"Kaede probably hates me now." I thought unhappily to myself, punching a wall subconsciously. "Dammit! Where the hell could she be?" I looked at my hand, and it was starting to bleed a little bit.

I ignored the pain and continued searching for her until at last I found her up on the rooftop, crying. I stood at the doorway for a while, thinking of what to say. But, I was also thinking if she didn't wanna say anything to me.

"Why? Why did you do all that to Rin?" Kaede asked, startling me.

"You know I'm here?" I asked her, sounding confused.

"Hai." she said with a tone of melancholy in her voice. She then turned around to face me. When she did, all I saw was despair and sorrow. "Why?"

"Kaede," I started, staring into those beautiful sky blue eyes of hers, and they were filled with tears, "I'm gonna be completely honest with you. The reason why I had kicked Rin's ass was because...well...I was just furious at him. The fact that he hurt you so much and never even realized it made my anger boil inside. It still confuses me to this day as to why he never chose you. You're such a beautiful, amazing, smart, fun, and caring young lady, yet he never took your kindness and love into consideration. If you don't wanna talk to me anymore cause of what I did, then that's understandable. I'll leave you to your business." After letting that out, I turned around and headed for the door.

"Michael-kun, wait!" Kaede cried out, putting back the honorific she always uses. Next thing I knew, Kaede ran up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, catching me off guard.

"K-Kaede-chan!" I exclaimed in shock.

"You're so sweet for caring about me like that. Arigatou." she said, putting on her trademark smile.

I turned around and wrapped my arms around her, holding her close to me. "I'm really, really sorry Kaede. I hope you can forgive me."

"It's okay Michael. I forgive you." she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck this time. We stood there on the roof for a few minutes before we both decided to go downstairs to the classroom to clear things up. The whole entire time we were walking, we were holding hands.

* * *

"Guess I gotta apologize, huh?" I asked Kaede with a small chuckle.

Kaede giggled a little bit. "I'm afraid so. You kinda left the whole classroom a mess, and the students were also stunned." she said.

"The hell they were stunned! Everyone was cheering me on, not even TRYING to stop me. What a bunch of wussies." I said to her, making sure she didn't hear the last part.

"I'm guessing they were too afraid to stop you."

"Probably. But, whatever. I'm just gonna do what I have to do." As soon as I finished saying that, we arrived in front of the classroom. I was a bit nervous at first to open the door, seeing as how my hand was shaking in front of it. Kaede laid her hand gently on mine, making me look at her. She just gave me a nod and smile, making me smile as well. I then opened the door, making all the noise going on in there cease to exist.

"Uhh..." I started, looking down a little bit. I then looked up at all the students, having the confidence to talk to them. "I am SO sorry for the way I acted before. I let my emotions take control of me, and I did something that was unforgivable. I wish to apologize for my behavior, and thank you for your time." I then bowed to show them I truly meant it.

"It's alright." I looked up and saw Rin standing in front of me. I gasped in shock as he just held out his hand. I noticed the damage I did to his face. He was missing a tooth, his face was all bruised up, and his nose kinda looked broken. And after all that damage, he still forgives me?

"R-Rin..." I am speechless at this guy.

"I understand why you did what you did." he continued, looking at me with a small smile. "You were willing to do anything to make sure Kaede's happy. I was an idiot, and didn't once consider Kaede's gratitude. All I was focused on was making sure Asa got better and that SHE always smiles. Heck, I even cut my own wrist so that she can use her magic and become healthy again. Thankfully, it worked."

"Rin...you really are a crazy man." I had a eager expression on my face as I grabbed his hand and shook it. I then took my other one and smacked his face, but not too hard. "You dead ass cut your wrist? What if Asa-sempai couldn't use her magic, even if she tried? You would have died, baka!" I yelled at him, still keeping that same smile I had on.

He chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Rin." I addressed him in a serious manner. "I would like to apologize very deeply for what I did to your...face. Guess I went too far and let out all my anger on you." I told him. I then held out my hand again. "Truce?"

He was surprised at first, but then put on a smile and grabbed my hand. "Truce." This brought a bit of tears to Kaede's eyes.

There was an awkward silence for a little bit. Well, until my stomach broke it with its grumbling. All faces turned to me, and I blushed out of embarrassment. "Looks like this baby needs some food, ya know?" I said, tapping my stomach. This made everyone laugh, surprisingly.

"Here ya go!" Sia appeared out of nowhere and handed me the lunch that Kaede made for me this morning. I gave her a confused look. "If you're wondering how I got it, it's pretty simple. You dropped it as soon as you charged at Rin-kun."

Now I was really confused. But, right now, I didn't really give a damn about anything. I was freaking hungry!

"Arigatou, Sia-chan!" I exclaimed with joy as I grabbed the food, opened it up, and went straight for the target: food! Everyone, one again, laughed at the sight of me. It felt pretty good being accepted for once.

As soon as I finished my food, I totally forgot something. I clap my hands together. "Itadakimatsu!" I called out.

"Michael-kun, I think it's a little too late for that, don't you think?" Sia said with a giggle.

"True that. But, since I forgot, I might as well say it, am I right?" Everyone nodded at my statement. As if on cue, the next bell rang, signaling the students to get into class. "Well, there's my cue. My works seems to be done here. See ya everyone!" I called out to my new friends.

Everybody had said their goodbyes to me, except for Kaede. Instead of a normal "goodbye", she walked up to me and gave me a really loving hug, which I happily returned.

"I'll see you when I get home, okay?" I said to her, looking at her angelic face.

"Okay." She then kissed me on the cheek, which made me blush a really deep shade of red. She just giggled and went into her classroom.

"_That girl is something else."_ I thought to myself as I got out of the building and walked home.

**Third-Person POV:**

Kaede walked into the classroom and was automatically stared at by all the students in the class. Even Sia and Nerine were staring at her.

Mayumi had popped right next to Kaede. "Kaede-chan, you don't have to hide it from us anymore."

Kaede blushed instantly when she heard that. "H-hide what?" she asked nervously.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sia asked her with a smirk. "Wou have a relationship with Michael. Why didn't you tell us Kaede? We're your friends right?"

"Yes, but..." Kaede was now blushing nervously.

"Then why didn't you tell us?" Nerine asked.

"Michael and I are just really good friends. We don't have a relationship."

"For now." Mayumi said with a chuckle. "I can tell that you two will become a couple eventually."

"You're lucky Kaede." said Sia as she walked over back to her desk. Kaede didn't say anything else after that - she looked down to her desk, trying hard to hide her face. Reason was because she was blushing a deep shade of red. _'Am I really in love with Michael-kun?' _She thought to herself the rest of the day.

**Michael's POV**

When I got home, I realized that I really had nothing else to do for the rest of the day. So, I went upstairs to my room and turned on my computer. While it started loading, I was just thinking of my birthday, which was next week. I was wondering what I might get for my birthday, since I usually get something every year.

During my train of thought, which was about 30 minutes, my phone started to ring. I went to check it and saw that the number that was calling me was one that came from New York. But, I didn't know who was calling. So, I decided to pick up.

"Hello?" I asked.

"_Hey Mike, how's it going?"_ The voice answered. I automatically knew who it was as soon as I heard the voice.

"Saddiq?"

"_The one and only." Should have known._

"Yo dude! It's been way too long, bro. How you been doing?" I asked him.

"_Eh, everything is so-so. Nemu's mad at me, so I gotta behave myself, ya know?"_ he said in a funny tone.

"Yo son, Nemu is always mad at you. You always annoyin' her." I can hear him chuckle a bit.

"_Anyways, how's life in Japan? And how's that girl you kept telling me about, what was her name, Kadae?" _he asked while pronouncing Kaede's name so wrong it wasn't even funny.

"Her name is Kaede, not Kadae. And she's doing good. And so am I." I answered.

"_Whatever. So, you kept saying that she was cute. Just how cute is she, eh?" What's with all the damn questions?_

"Saddiq, she's more than just cute. She's so sweet, shy, adorable, all of those things. It's like looking at an angel from Heaven, ya know?" I said with a blush on my face, along with a smile.

"_Really now? Well then, you are one lucky man, bro." _He had that attitude that sounded as if he accomplished something.

"Michael-kun, who are you talking to?" I heard a voice call from the walkway of my room. I look over to the door and saw Kaede standing in front of it.

"Kaede-chan, what are you doing here so early?" I asked her, putting my hand on the phone.

"Well, I didn't really have anymore classes today. Why?"

"Just wondering. Give me a sec." I then turned my attention to the phone. "My bad, Saddiq. You were saying?"

"_Yo Mike, who's that with you? It sounds like a girl."_ Saddiq asked me.

"It is a girl. Well, Kaede to be exact. Hey Kaede, come here real fast. I wanna introduce someone to you." She complied and walked over to where I was. I then put my phone on speaker. "Kaede, say hello to my friend Saddiq."

"H-Hello..." she said, blushing a bit. _God damn, she is so adorable._

"_Hello there. The name's Saddiq." _he told her. He then said something, but I couldn't really hear him.

"Did you say something else?" I asked.

"_No. Anyways, it's nice to meet you. Well, hear your voice I suppose."_

"I-it's nice to meet you as well." she replied, still blushing.

"_Nii-san, hurry up with your call! You're gonna make our phone bill sky rocket!"_ I heard a voice call through the phone. My guess was that it was Nemu.

"_Fine. I'll hurry up."_ He said that with such a disappointed tone. I actually chuckled at his sorrow.

"Yo dude, was that Nemu? Let me say hi to her!" I called out.

"_Dude, she's pissed as hell right now. Did you not hear her tone just now? Anyways, put Kaede back on the phone. I wanna say something real fast."_

"Fine." I then handed over the phone to Kaede. "Here. He wants to tell you something."

She took the phone. "Hello?" she asked.

"_Hey Kaede, Michael probably told you this like a million times, but you have a really sweet voice. He also told me that you're very beautiful. Maybe we can-" _Before he could finish the sentence, I heard a yell and then his phone hung up.

"What in the hell..." I thought out loud as I took my phone. _He hung up. Wow._

"Michael-kun, was that the boy you always mentioned whenever we talked on the chatroom?" Kaede asked me, making me look up at her.

"You know it. He's like a brother to me. We've known each other ever since I moved into the house. His dad is my landlord, just so you know." I explained to her.

"Ah, okay. And who is that Nemu girl both of you mentioned?"

"Well, Nemu is Saddiq's adopted sister. She's like, only a few months younger than him. I've known her since I had moved into our apartment." I then looked at the time.

"What time is it, Michael-kun?"

"Eh, it's only 1:30. Well, we've got nothing to do. Wanna play a game with me?" I asked her, turning on my PS3 and handing her one of the controllers.

"O-okay." With that settled, she gladly took the controller. I then popped in "Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2".

During the time we were playing, I had taught her how to play the game and how to use different moves for the characters. After about 20 minutes of teaching, it was time for her to test her skills. For beginners, they would usually choose Goku. So, she chose Goku. As for me, I decided to use a beginning character as well. So, I chose Vegeta on normal.

She had gotten the hang of it, and we had fought for a while. In the end though, the score of wins was 10-8. I was amazed by how quickly she learned how to play. And I'm amazed that she was almost up to my score.

"I'm impressed, Kaede. You're just like me when I started. It took me 15 minutes to learn how to play, and 5 minutes to kick William's ass." I told her with a chuckle at the end.

She giggled. "Well, I had a lot of fun playing this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta get started on cooking." With that, she put the controller on my bed and walked out. But, not before I took her hand.

"Kaede, thanks for playing with me. It gets kinda boring playing by myself." I told her with a big smile on my face.

"It's nothing. Now, you just relax and I'll get started on making our food. Okay?" I then let her hand go and she walked out of my room.

"That girl is just amazing." I said to myself. Since it'll be a while before we eat, I decided to practice my singing. So, I put on my iPod and started to sing "Iridescent" by Linkin Park. This song is really good.

* * *

After singing the song for about half-an-hour, I decided to go on my computer and see what I got in my email. Sadly, nothing popped up. I sighed in disappointment. _God, I'm so bored!_

I then went to YouTube and just looked at some videos that I liked. I watched the new episode of "Dragon Ball Z Abridged", and let me tell you something, that shit will make you crack up. I was almost on the floor cause I was laughing so hard.

When the video ended, I got up and turned off my computer screen and then decided to walk around the house for a bit. As if on cue, Kaede was calling me to come down for dinner.

"Wow, that's creepy." I thought as I walked downstairs into the kitchen. I can see Kaede serving our food. I didn't wanna be mean, so I decided to help her dish out.

"Arigatou, Michael-kun." she said with a blush on her face.

"No problem." Primula was walking into the kitchen just now. "There you are." I said to her.

"Huh?" she questioned in a confused way.

"Oh, I was just wondering where you were. I didn't hear you come in." I then sat at my spot on the table.

"Oh." she said quietly. Primula is a mystery. I'll just have to talk to her so that I can know her even more.

Once again, the dinner was amazingly cooked by Kaede. After the food, I decided to clean up the dishes again. I walked into the family room and saw that she was alone again.

"Primula went to sleep?" I asked her.

"Hai." she replied. I then sat right next to Kaede.

"So, what you up to?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just a bit tired." She then let a yawn that almost made me wanna grab her and kiss her cause of how adorable she was. I blushed deeply when she yawned.

"Ah. Well, I hope you don't mind if I ask this, but do you think we can sing a duet?" I nervously asked her.

"A-a duet?" she asked, shocked and nervous as well.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I never really heard you sing before. So, do you wanna try to sing with me?" I then scrolled through the on-demand section of our television. Surprisingly, there was country music on it. I decided to check it out.

"W-well...I guess so. But, I don't think I can sing very good." she was still blushing and looking down during this time. I finally found a good song for the both of us.

"Trust me, you'll do just fine." I then played the song. The song was called "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift. Luckily for me, there was Japanese subtitles so that Kaede can learn the song. For me, I already knew it.

* * *

_I remember what you wore on the first day  
You came into my life and I thought hey  
you know, this could be something_

_'Cause everything you do and words you say_  
_You know that it all takes my breath away_  
_And now I'm left with nothing_

_So maybe it's true that I can't live without you_  
_And maybe two is better than one_  
_But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_  
_And you've already got me coming undone_  
_And I'm thinking two is better than one_

_I remember every look upon your face_  
_The way you roll your eyes, the way you taste_  
_You make it hard for breathing_

_'Cause when I close my eyes and drift away_  
_I think of you and everything's okay_  
_I'm finally now believing_

_That maybe it's true that I can't live without you_  
_And maybe two is better than one_  
_But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_  
_And you've already got me coming undone_  
_And I'm thinking two is better than one_  
_Yeah, yeah_

_I remember what you wore on the first day_  
_You came into my life and I thought, hey_

_Maybe it's true that I can't live without you_  
_Maybe two is better than one_  
_There's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_  
_And you've already got me coming undone_

_And I'm thinking, ooh, I can't live without you_  
_'Cause, baby, two is better than one_  
_There's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_  
_But I figured out with all that's said and done_  
_Two is better than one, two is better than one_

_Two is better than one_

* * *

That felt amazing. Kaede and I were getting so into the song, at the end we were just holding each others' hands.

"How was that, Michael-kun?" Kaede asked me, blushing really deep and looking down.

"Kaede-chan, your voice is so amazing!" I yelled with glee. She looked up surprised. "I had no idea that you can sing that well. And an English song at that."

She blushed even more and out on a small smile for me. "A-a-arigatou." She then yawned one more time. And, like the last, I was in LOVE with that cute ass yawn of hers.

"Well, I guess we'd better go to sleep. After all, you still got school tomorrow." I then took her hand and started to walk. But, before that, I looked back at her with a smile. "Shall we go?"

She looked down in nervousness. "H-hai." We then walked up to her room and I had been by her side until she said goodnight to me.

"Goodnight, Kaede-chan."

"Goodnight, Michael-kun."

After that, I walked into my room and then decided to listen to music so that I can go to sleep. So, I played "Falling Inside The Black" by Skillet and drifted to sleep in like, 10 minutes.

* * *

**I'm not gonna out any extra dialogue here for now. I just wanted to get this chapter over with as soon as possible. This has to be one of the fastest updates I have ever done. And I hope that I can update like this for this story.**

**So, until next time, see ya! Oh, and tell me what you thought of it. Am I rushing, or am I keeping it good? Any feedback is welcome.**

**Mike :)**


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